Pray Jager- District Two mentor
I knew from the start it was the most likely outcome. I gave Brock the best training he could ask for but I couldn't make him me. I got him as far as I could and he couldn't finish the rest.
Ava Hanson- District Two mentor
I knew how Alice would go down in the history books and it bothered me. Everything they would say about her was true- she was a murderer and she was insane. I just wished they would remember the rest of her as well. I felt bad identifying with someone so much and ignoring her victims. It was just I'd always remember my first impression of her: a polite young woman asking for my help.
District Two
The Two Academy is always going to attract unsavory types. That's the name of the game when we're training people to kill people. Some years we get people like Caio and some years we get people like Alice. It was good she lasted so long but in all honesty a Victor like her wasn't good publicity. And Brock was better off dead in our eyes, hence why we sent him in the first place.
Gidget Ford- District Three mentor
What do you say about something like this? It's easy to watch the Games and think of the Tributes as far away and not really real. Lester and Tabitha didn't permit that. Every minute they were onscreen we were all reminded that these were real people with real lives and real friends. Friendships like that come once in a lifetime. It was all such a waste.
District Three
Most of the visitors never even noticed the little shrine in a corner of the circus tent. It was nothing but a small table with a little vase on it. Whoever noticed probably thought it odd that the vase had no flowers. They didn't know it wasn't empty. Six handfuls of dust filled the vase halfway, each donated from families with urns of their own. From town to town the urn traveled with the tent as she show went on.
Irina Sokolova, Victor
"NO!" I shrieked. "Put it back! She's not dead put it back!"
I knelt over Tabitha and crossed my hands on her chest. I pushed down until her body jerked, her chest shuddering as I forced heartbeats. I pinched her nose shut and breathed into her mouth. It was still warm. There was still hope.
"Stop the music!" I screamed as the anthem started playing. I just needed to get a heartbeat. I could get her stable and then eliminate myself and everything would be right again. Just this once. Let me save just one.
The building shook around me and the walls collapsed without warning. I threw up an arm, expecting the roof to fall in, but when I looked up it was suspended on cables dangling from a hovercraft. Another hovercraft right next to it was lowering a ladder for me. I ignored it, turning back to resume chest compressions.
Tabitha, wake up! Hurry!
"Go away!" I yelled as Peacekeepers started descending the ladder after I refused to climb it. I shoved down on Tabitha's chest. They would be on me in seconds and they wouldn't believe me that she wasn't dead. "Please! Just give me thirty seconds!"
Tabitha TabithawakeupWAKEUP!
A Peacekeeper grabbed my arm and tried to pull me off of Tabitha. When I turned to punch him another one piled onto me from behind. I twisted my body to grab Tabitha's shirt as they dragged me away from her.
"Let me save her!" I screamed. I dragged myself toward her and clutched her to my chest as a third Peacekeeper tried to slide her away. Please no. Don't take me. Tabitha has to win. Let Tabitha win.
I didn't even notice the prick of the needle. I was still lying half on top of Tabitha, trying to blow breath into her lungs, until I couldn't move at all.
I remembered everyone was dead when I woke up. I lay with my eyes closed, involuntarily inhabiting my body, feeling the blankets against my limbs and wishing I was nothing at all. I could have stayed like that forever- just motionless and trying not to think. There were cold spots on my pillow where my tears fell.
Stylists buzzed around me as I looked blankly toward the mirror. Rhoda had come to my bedside and said some things I hadn't heard. At some point I was bundled off to the stylists to get ready for my grand debut. I didn't remember getting there. I didn't even remember if my face matched what I looked like before. It seemed to me my nose was smaller now and something about the proportions of my face was wrong. All I knew for sure was that I had five fingers again, though two of them were lifeless and cold. The stylists brushed layers and layers of makeup over the bruises covering my face.
"How did it feel the moment you won the Games?"
Caesar was talking to me. I was onstage with him. I faintly remembered being fitted into a costume and hooked up to a microphone.
How did it feel the moment you won the Games?
The question repeated in my head and it seemed to be the first time I heard it. I looked up at Caesar slowly. He blurred as tears filled my eyes and trickled over.
"It's just amazing," I heard my voice coming from the microphone. "It's such a dream come true." I didn't try to mouth along as the computerized voice took over for me. If the Capitol could fake my voice they could just add a fake mouth later.
The recap wasn't real. It was just flat images on a screen. I only paid attention when my friends were onscreen. I saw Elle again. I'd almost forgotten what she looked like. Richard. Skada. Lester. Elle.
Play it again, I thought when it was over. Play it over and over forever so they never disappear.
I didn't say anything when President Snow appeared. It was probably supposed to be the most important moment of my life. Later, when I realized how much I'd ignored him, I hoped he wasn't offended. Back in my room I felt the weight on my head and took off a crown I hadn't even looked at. It was a simple circle of braided gold. It must have been really convenient for the designers when I won the Games. A whip looks a lot like a lariat.
After that very depressing chapter... I'm finally able to provide some more behind-the-scenes voting info! I've had to keep things secret so as not to affect the votes but now that the finale is over I can give some juicy info.
THE CIRCUS ALLIANCE: I see the concerns people had. They were totally fair concerns and non-circus submitters have my sympathy. I hope that this additional info will make things more transparent.
1. The circus alliance had five core members. That's a big alliance and definitely a huge power play in a voting Games. However... five's not a majority. The circus alliance was never a shoo-in, though I couldn't disclose that without affecting votes. It was entirely possible at any point for the non-circus members to outnumber and pick off the circus alliance, especially since votes don't end for a submitter when their Tribute dies. The reason the circus alliance was so slow to dwindle wasn't because of power voting at all. It was because a lot of voters gave up pretty early and stopped voting- I had far fewer votes this time around. It's totally fine not to vote or to lose interest in the story. I'm just noting it because the circus alliance persisted by default, not by powergaming. Other people sometimes voted along with the circus alliance, usually after their own Tribute had died, but it's also worth noting that other than Lester, Irina, Skada, Tabitha, and Richard, the other circus alliance submitters were doing their own thing voting-wise. Some of them even death-voted circus members at times.
2. Now that the Games are over I can unveil probably the biggest twist: the core circus alliance was never about a circus member winning. It was about Irina winning. The other four members all made Tributes specifically to scuttle them to give Irina a better chance. Voting Games winners have always had campaigns behind them made up of people who want to help their friend get a Victor. That's precisely what happened this time and the only change was that the submitters actively nuked their own chances in order to band together and boost their friend Willuna. You can make your own opinion on that but personally I think it was a really lovely gesture and proof of how real online friendships can be. PS- you can believe me or not, but this wasn't originally Willuna's idea. The rest of the circus alliance planned it around her.
3. Just a general note: the rules for the voting Games have been the same since the first one. Banding together and making a power alliance has always been an option. This is just the first time someone actually did it. There will always be an element of metagaming in these games since letting submitters vote is metagaming by definition. In the past it's been by soliciting votes and having huge campaigns in the reviews and PMs, which is also 100% within the rules. This was a new version but it's nothing that hasn't been done in every voting Games.
There will always be weaknesses and exploits in a voting Games. They're always risky to write on my part and they come with the potential for a ton of hurt feelings and resentment. However, they also bring a ton of chaotic fun and energy. Sometimes you gotta take some bad in order to get some good. I'm happy to answer any more questions people might have.